Cimab to distribute male fertility home test kits

02/07/2018

The Centre for Male Infertility and Analysis of Barcelona (CIMAB), a company created by UAB researchers, will be in charge of distributing SwimCount, a home test kit used to evaluate the fertility of men. In contrast to the first tests found on the market, this device allows measuring not only the amount of sperm in semen, but also its progressive motility, i.e., its ability to move by itself.
 
"Sperm moving slowly or not moving at all are unable to reach the ovule and fertilise it, and that is why sperm motility is an essential parameter of quality when conceiving naturally. SwimCount is the only home test which takes this variable into account and is more than 90% reliable", Director General of Cimab Agustí Garcia points out.
 
The test is easy to use and works like a pregnancy test A small amount of semen must be deposited on the device and 30 minutes later, the colour of the results window indicates whether the amount of mobile sperm is above or below the World Health Organisation's threshold for normal sperm count (5 million per millilitre).
 
According to the WHO, a couple must have tried to conceive without success for at least 12 months before they can be considered to be infertile. For this reason, an infertility diagnosis is conducted only one year after a couple tries to get pregnant. “This system would allow diagnosing the problem earlier, thereby increasing the chance of pregnancy thanks to assisted reproduction techniques”, Agustí Garcia explains. “The mother's age is determinant for the success of assisted reproduction techniques, and therefore an early diagnosis of male infertility would increase these possibilities of success”.
 
Thanks to the agreement between Cimab and SwimCount, this test will be available in Spain, Portugal and Morocco. Cimab will distribute the test kit through its subsidiary Cimab Iberica, a company dedicated to commercialising male fertility products.